This is a longer post, but we think it’s worthy of your time. That’s because even though there’s a lot going on in the opinion by the California Court of Appeal in Property Reserve, Inc. v. Superior Court, No. C067758 (Mar. 13, 2014), it cuts through much of the unnecessary doctrinal fog surrounding takings
Brandt: No Free Ride For Rails-To-Trails
In addition to the initial media coverage of and commentary about the Supreme Court’s 8-1 decision in Marvin M. Brandt Revocable Trust v. United States, No. 12-1173 (Mar. 10, 2014) rendered earlier this week, there has been more, mostly focused on the final lines of Justice Sotomayor’s solo dissent:
By changing course today, the Court
Nichols On Eminent Domain: Oklahoma Appeals Court Upholds Jury Rights In Condemnation
Here’s one that we meant to post earlier, but slipped through the cracks.
In Oklahoma eminent domain actions, the issue of valuation is first presented to a board of three commissioners (“disinterested landowners”) from the county in which the condemned property is located. The commissioners report to the court, and if one party doesn’t care
Answering Brief In Stamper: Jury Decides Nollan/Dolan When A Factor In Compensation
Here’s the Answer Brief on the Merits, filed last week in the California Supreme Court in City of Perris v. Stamper.
That’s the case in which the court is considering whether, in the context of determining just compensation, the judge or the jury gets to decide whether a city’s exaction is something that
4th Cir: Uniform Relocation Act Requirements Are Like The Pirate’s Code – “More What You’d Call ‘Guidelines,’ Than Actual Rules”
One portion of the federal Uniform Relocation Act, 42 U.S.C. § 4651, requires Federal agencies participating in projects requiring the acquisition of private property to be guided by certain policies that “assure consistent treatment for owners . . . and . . . .promote public confidence in Federal land acquisition practices,” such as (and we’re paraphrasing
HAWSCT: Damage To Unique Property Subject To Unique Rules
There’s not much doubt that the now-notorious large-scale unpermitted upland grading and grubbing by a Kauai property owner on its private land caused the runoff that catastrophically damaged the adjacent beach and the reef offshore. The damage was pretty bad, and resulted in the “largest storm water settlement [with the federal EPA] in the United
New Eminent Domain (And Related) Law Blog
One of the perks of attending the annual ALI-CLE Eminent Domain and Land Valuation conference (this year in New Orleans) is that in addition to 2 1/2 days of high-level CLE programming involving our favorite topic, you get to meet colleagues from across the nation (and internationally – expropriation lawyers from Canada were also with
A Dispatch From The ALI-CLE Eminent Domain Conference (With Links)
This morning, I joined my Owners’ Counsel colleagues Leslie Fields and Joe Waldo (the programming co-chairs), and more than 100 fellow eminent domain experts in New Orleans under the auspices of ALI-CLE at our annual gathering for the start of 2 1/2 days of legal education.
Joe and Leslie asked me to join Professor James
31st Annual ALI-CLE Eminent Domain And Land Valuation Litigation (New Orleans)
Next week, we’ll be in New Orleans for the 2014 edition of the ALI-CLE Eminent Domain program, now in its 31st year.
As usual, my Owners’ Counsel colleagues Leslie Fields and Joe Waldo (the programming co-chairs) have put together a fantastic 2.5 day of programming, taught by expert faculty. At 11:00 a.m. on
PA Flight 93 Site Just Compensation – $1.5 Million
According to this story (“Eminent domain panel values Flight 93 crash site at $1.5 million“), a three-person panel of commissioners appointed by the U.S. District Court has settled on the amount of compensation owed the landowner for the taking of the site in middle Pennsylvania where United 93 crashed on September 11, 2001.